February 3, 2015

Experts discuss right-to-work legislation [VIDEO]

Right-to-work legislation has been and will continue to be a divisive subject during the 2015 Legislative Session. Gov. Susana Martinez has said that she supports it and the House majority has shown they are ready to push right-to-work bills through the committee process. There are a handful of bills in both the House and Senate that would ban employers from requiring their employees to pay union dues or negotiating fees.

Defenders of the legislation have said workers deserve the right to choose whether they pay unions or not. Business leaders in New Mexico have said many companies tend to expand into states that have right-to-work laws on the books. They argue that the state would be more attractive to out of state companies with stricter laws regarding unions.

Opponents of right-to-work laws say unions cannot support members without membership dues. Many people have also argued that the Taft-Hartley Act already makes it illegal to force employees to join a worker’s union. What’s not illegal in New Mexico is deducting money from an employee’s paycheck for pay negotiations and health care. That practice is known as Fair Share, and union supporters say it’s necessary to keep unions financially solvent and that unions provide a service to all workers.

New Mexico Political Report caught up with two people who have looked into right-to-work laws.

Paul Gessing is the president of the Rio Grande Foundation, a free-market think tank based in Albuquerque.

Dr. Gordon Lafer is a political economist and a professor at the University of Oregon.

Albuquerque Mayor Tim Keller this week told city police officers to stop the city’s DWI vehicle seizure program. Under existing ordinance, the police department can impound vehicles after DWI arrests, but before the driver has been convicted.

Gov. Susana Martinez pledged Thursday to put at least two non-budget items on the call this coming legislative session. Speaking on a panel with members of the local business community, Martinez said she will allow legislators to introduce bills on changing driver’s licenses and barring mandatory union agency fees as a condition of work, sometimes called right to work.

With less than two weeks to go before the beginning of the 2017 state legislative session, four lawmakers have already filed bills on a controversial reoccurring topic—guns. One bill from two prominent Democratic senators seeks to mandate background checks on gun owners who transfer firearms between each other.

State Rep. Bobby Gonzales shook his head from side to side after listening to all the suggestions about how to meet a judge's order to provide more resources to New Mexico children who, in the court's view, are not receiving a good public education.